Review by Corey

April 1, 2005

At a dock, the announcement is made of the maiden voyage for a new submarine. Mamoru's class is allowed to be the first passengers onboard, thanks to a special contest, and Leo, Mikoto, and Guy sit in the chairs
to watch. Mamoru and Hana get to unveil the RyuuGuu 9000, and Leo, the designer of the submarine, is asked to say a few words. Off to the side, a man curses not being chosen to pilot the RyuuGuu. Penchinon appears behind him, asking him if he wants to pilot it after all. As the audience applauds Leo's speech, Mamoru senses a Zonder and alerts Mikoto with his pager. Mikoto tells Guy not to forget his suitcase, even though it's far too heavy for her to lift up. Guy opens it for her, his armor contained within. Sneaking under the submarine, the Zonder fuses into the hull. Mamoru warns his friends to get away, but the RyuuGuu begins to move and take Hana with it. Penchinon opens the flood gates, allowing the Zonder entrance into the ocean. Mamoru races alongside the Zonder, managing to jump off the side and land within. Guy follows suit in his armor, but is thrown off by the Zonder's arms. It dives too deep for him to follow, and Leo tells Guy that Volfogg has already moved out in the Intelligence Ship. The Zonder continues to descend with Hana and Mamoru within, and the Zonder announces that he will bring the submarine to the bottom of the ocean. As he continues to fully transform, Mamoru holds the crying Hana and wonders why adults must be so difficult. The Intelligence Ship follows with Guy and Volfogg at the helm, but Volfogg warns Guy that a Navy Submarine is in the area. It takes evasive maneuvers to evade the Zonder, but it grabs hold of it and assimilates the craft. Guy wants to get in closer, but Volfogg advises against it at risk of being assimilated as well. Despite Guy's protest, Volfogg tells him to await commands from the Main Order Room. As EI-11 descends further underwater, the military officers are launched life rafts from the Intelligence Ship as it surfaces. Entouji takes the information sent to them from Volfogg, informing Taiga that it's heading for the Marianas Trench. The Zonder was a man disqualified as Captain due to the specialist developer of the craft being chosen. Entouji explains the Marianas Trench and the Richards Plateau, and how it's the deepest spot in the world and devoid of light.

As EI-11 runs deeper underwater, its own body begins to collapse from the pressure with Mamoru and Hana still within. Mamoru watches his pager die, and wonders if he has the power to purify the Zonder without getting them killed. Alone on a tiny raft, Penchinon comments on how lucky he was to get Mamoru on accident like that. Mamoru's remaining three friends worry about the two underwater, but Ushi tells them that 3G will save them. Hyuuma has Kazuo brief Guy on the mission, who quickly warns Guy that the primary danger is water pressure. Kazuo explains that with the Dividing Driver Guy will be able to rescue the kids within the repression field. With it, he can carry the kids to safety from such a depth within the range of the Driver. The challenge however, lies in diving 10,000 meters in 30 minutes, due to the Dividing Driver losing power to keep up with the water pressure. GaiGar performs Final Fusion, while HyoRyu and EnRyu begin Symmetrical Docking. Hyuuma tells Guy he can bring him down 6,000 meters safely in the Submarine, and ChoRyuJin tells him he'll be waiting for his safe return. Volfogg watches from the Intelligence Ship, giving a quiet word of caution. In the Main Order Room, Taiga and Kazuo watch the depth of the Submarine and EI-11, and Mamoru continues to hold on with Hana. Mikoto nervously says that Guy will catch up, and Hyuuma and Leo agree. The water pressure soon wears on the Submarine, and causes it to explode as GaoGaiGar descends with the Dividing Driver activated. EI-11 reaches 10,000 meters, and Hana asks Mamoru if Mermaids can rescue them this deep. Mamoru tries to reassure her, but she reminds him that class taught them all about water pressure. GaoGaiGar finally catches up with EI-11, and it transforms into a sea serpent to battle. The repression field deflects EI-11's torpedoes, and GaoGaiGar punches EI-11 in the face as it pushes into the field. It fires a large missile at close range, only to have GaoGaiGar grab it and shove it back into its hull. The undeterred Zonder grabs GaoGaiGar with its claws, and Guy activates both Drill Knees to fight back. He fires the Broken Magnum through its head, and it returns to snap its body in two before returning to his hand for Hell and Heaven. As Guy removes the core, the Dividing Driver's repression field begins to fail. Above water, Hyuuma and Leo suppose he didn't make it, driving Mikoto into another crying fit. ChoRyuJin sees something in the water however, and uses both his cranes to pull GaoGaiGar up. Volfogg tells them he's found a massive energy signature underwater, and soon enough GaoGaiGar is lifted from the water. Mamoru purified the Zonder underwater, and used his power to keep them alive in the deep. Volfogg makes note of Mamoru's energy, not sure it's actually from Earth.

This is an example of an otherwise great episode being hampered by the subject. What was the point of Penchinon making a Zonder that did nothing but want to go underwater? While it did go to his advantage having Mamoru within, I can't imagine him returning to Pasdar to tell him he got a Zonder to the ocean floor. I was expected some sort of plot involving the trench, seeing how Penchinon's last plan was pretty crafty. Unfortunately, this was not the case. That aside, the episode wasn't bad at all. The police car from last episode, while never outright stating the fact, is definitely Volfogg. You don't see much of him, as all he does in the episode is sit in his massive chair in the shadows and overview the situation. Guy mentions that he's from intelligence, and he looks like a Ninja. The idea of a Robot Ninja Police Car sounds like it'd be a very messed up idea, but Volfogg definitely seems surprisingly interesting. The exchange with Hyuuma and Leo is the highlight of the episode, both saying Taiga's trademark line to cheer-up Mikoto at the same time ("because Guy is a hero"). Mamoru's power prevails once again, and Hana proves she's not as incompetent as she would've been let off to be thus far. After Penchinon's successful attempt to waste Zonder metal on an ocean trip, let's hope the next Machine King (if they stick to their order, it'll be Polonaise) doesn't make a pointless plan.

Overall Rating: 1.5 out of 5 stars



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